In my case, I updated from Tiger to Leopard with no problem. Connection is still 100%. For me, it's Snow Leopard that breaks things... If the WiFi card is at fault, why does it work perfectly in 10.4.11 and 10.5.8? It may some subtle defect that only shows up when some functionality is turned on. Has something changed in the way OS X communicates with the router? I guess that most of us did not stick very long with Snow Leopard and went to Lion as soon as it got out. That may be why we all say that trouble started with Lion. My recent tests seem to show that Snow Leopard is the issue and that Lion did not fix anything.

Agreed. My early 2011 Macbook Pro has gone through a lot at the Apple Store (4+ visits on this issue alone) and I thought I had a fix when they wiped it clean and did a full install. I was happy for a few weeks, and then today it went bad again. I'm back to slow, barely usable speeds. It had been perfectly speedy.

Any advice on who to talk to/what to say to get a replacement laptop? I'm still under warranty for another month or two and also have purchased the Apple Care extended. Advice? This machine/software combination is obviously flawed in some way.

Wish I knew how to delete my last post. I think I figured out the reason my Macbook has been going bad.

My wife brought it to my attention, that I used a USB stick version of iLife 11 suite that a friend gave me since he said he didn't need it anymore. I don't think it was a legit copy. as soon as I had installed it (about a few days ago) that was when my internet/wifi/network began to fail. Once I uninstalled the offending apps, rebooted, and gave it a half hour.. now my network is perfect again.

I wonder if there is some sort of malicious code embedded in software that isn't legit? .. something from Apple to ensure piracy doesn't work?

I don't know. I'm going to buy my OWN copy of iLife now, even though it should've come with my laptop to begin with.. when they formatted and re-installed my system at the Apple Store, I guess they skipped that part. Ah well. At least my network functions flawlessly again.

Not sure if this helps anyone but just wanted to share my ongoing fiasco with this machine.

It's great that you can now use your home wifi. But what if (like me) you want to use the laptop in public spaces, friends homes, or other places? The bottom line is, such fixes are great but just a band-aid solution. The underlying problem (whatever it is) has still not been fixed by Apple.

ekremers, I've found that the only network my MacBook was having any issues with was my own. I could connect to other networks just fine. For some reason, after MONTHS of not having any issues and not changing a thing in my router/network settings, my problems began. This has happened to me on three separate MacBooks now.

Wait...I'd like to correct that...I also began having issues on my inlaws' network. It would seem that problems arise when one spends too much time on any particular network... *sigh*

I refuse to believe that Apple doesn't have a dedicated set of moderators keeping an eye on these forums. After so many years of this BS, how can they continue feign ignorance?

They do know about it. The first time I called Apple care about this and talked to a "lower level" employee, she recognized the problem and actually summed up a few of the fixes that people have posted in this thread, telling me that the laptop can not handle too many stored networks and that my home network, office network and friends network were interfering with each other (over 10km) causing the laptop to try to connect to the different networks and making the connection unstable. Needless to say this was a long and frustrating call.

I've been in and out of Apple's service centers for 1 month now, almost all the hardware in my machine has been replaced but I am still experiencing the exact same problems. I guess it's back to calling Apple care tomorrow. I'm still hopeful that they will fix my problem, but this is getting frustrating.

I connect to the internet then after about 15-20 minutes of being online I can no longer load any webpages. My wireless router is less than 3 feet from my Mac Book Pro. So, I restart my MBP. When I do so, the wireless internet card is turned off, and does not even show in the bar at the top like it should.

I open System Preferences, go to Network, and select to turn on my wireless card, but after clicking nothing happens.

I try to restart my MBP, but the same thing happens. I have to restart the MBP about 5-10 times before the wireless internet card will turn on again... only to have it shut off after about 15-20 minutes.

I left PCs because there were so many problems with them, but at least I could go online and get my school work done when and where I needed to. I am currently connected to the internet through a cable and do not like it as I am forced to sit at my desk.

Luckily for me, my MBP is less than a few months old. If Apple cannot fix this, they can have it back and I will go get a cheaper PC. That's the great thing about America: There isn't just one company that sells computers.

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